Story Highlights

What's done is done, and the Port Huron High School football team is moving on.

Yes, the Big Reds feel they let one get away in their 22-10 season-opening loss to powerful Detroit Martin Luther King. But Port Huron is ready to turn the page, as it switches its attention to Friday's Macomb Area Conference White Division opener against the Tars of Anchor Bay at Memorial Stadium.

"One thing we are not going to do is hang our heads," senior middle linebacker Ravin Randall said. "We are going to look at the positives and the negatives, too, and fix those negatives.

"We are going to move on and get better. We are going to look toward this game as the first MAC White game. It's the next best game of the season."

Against King, the Port Huron defense played lights out. The Crusaders had 288 yards of total offense, and 88 of those came on a touchdown late in the first half. King's ground game managed just 88 yards on 34 carries and also had four turnovers.

"The positives from last week were up front. Our defense played strong," Port Huron coach Ryan Mullins said. "The front four guys really gave the linebackers freedom to make tackles, and we tackled really well.

"You look at three or four plays defensively, and (if) we eliminate those plays, we are shutting that team out. And that's a good football team. That's a top-10 football team in the state. The defense gave us a chance in the second half and kept us in the game the entire time. (Its) effort was outstanding."

The offense performed at the opposite end of the spectrum. It struggled mightily against a speedy King defense.

Port Huron didn't have a single offensive point with its 10 points coming on Brandon Wardlow's fumble recovery in the end zone and John Miller's 31-yard field goal.

The Bigs Reds mustered only 67 yards of total offense and turned the ball over five times.

"We are just going to work every day in practice harder and harder," sophomore quarterback DeAngelo Sanderson Jr. said. "We are going to try to bounce back. The defense was two plays from a shutout in the first half.

"Our defense kept us in the game. Our offense needs to step it up and make big plays like we are known to do."

Mullins said his young quarterback needs more help from the supporting cast.

"Really everyone has to be better around him," he said. "We didn't protect well enough. Obviously, we didn't establish the run game like we wanted to. Everyone has to be better. We will make better decisions and eliminate those turnovers.

"If we eliminate those, we could have been down a score in the fourth quarter with the ball. We have to focus on everyone getting better and playing more physical. We weren't physical offensively."

Port Huron and Anchor Bay have split 10 games since 1997, but Port Huron has won the last three in the series.

Logan Gattari rushed for 160 yards and three scores in the Tars' season-opening 41-20 win over L'Anse Creuse. It marked coach Mike Powell's debut at the Ira Township school. He led Warren Cousino for 15 seasons before making the move.

"We really stress one game at a time," Mullins said. "That's what we talk about. We knew as soon as the game was over that we were playing a MAC game next. We had to get over what just happened and it was time to focus on a MAC game.

"In football, you have to be able to do that and focus on a particular task. As coaches we do that, and the players believe in that.

"I thought Anchor Bay played well. They have a new coaching staff, and that's big for team morale getting an opening win. They have a coach that's been in the MAC White for a long time. They are going to be excited and hungry. We have to match that excitement."

Contact Joseph Hayes at (810) 989-6268 or at jahayes@gannett.com. He's on Twitter @jhayes1136.

IF YOU GO

• WHAT: Anchor Bay (1-0) vs. Port Huron (0-1)

• WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday

• WHERE: Memorial Stadium

MULLINS' 3 KEYS TO VICTORY

• 1. FIELD POSITION: "Field position with special teams will be huge."

• 2. TURNOVERS: "We have to take better care of the football. Our defense will create turnovers."

• 3. RUNNING THE FOOTBALL: "Whoever wins the run game will be in a good position to win the game."